Monday, July 19 2010

Old Wine In Old Bottles

I'm sure Leonardo DiCaprio is around here somewhere . . .

From the 'How About That?' files comes news from Stockholm that divers have found the world's oldest bottles of Champagne. According to the Associated Press story,

Divers have discovered what is thought to be the world's oldest drinkable champagne in a shipwreck in the Baltic Sea, one of the finders said Saturday. They tasted the one bottle they've brought up so far before they even got back to shore.

Diving instructor Christian Ekstrom said the bottles are believed to be from the 1780s and likely were part of a cargo destined for Russia. The nationality of the sunken ship has not yet been determined.

"We brought up the bottle to be able to establish how old the wreck was," he told The Associated Press. "We didn't know it would be champagne. We thought it was wine or something."

Ekstrom said the divers were overjoyed when they popped the cork on their boat after hauling the bubbly from a depth of 200 feet (60 meters).

"It tasted fantastic. It was a very sweet champagne, with a tobacco taste and oak," Ekstrom said.

The divers discovered the shipwreck Tuesday near the Aland Islands, between Sweden and Finland. About 30 bottles are believed to be aboard the sunken vessel.

There's no telling who made the wine (they don't even know the identity of the ship, yet) but there are a couple of things that make for a compelling story, the destination and the sweetness. The Russian Imperial court was cuckoo for sparkling wine, and they liked it sweet--really, really sweet, to the point where it would be designated 'vin doux' by the French champagne houses. They drank it chilled to the point of slushiness and served it almost like a sorbet.

Available wherever unavailable goods are sold

The most successful exporter to the Russian court was the house of Clicquot, later named Veuve Clicquot, after the widow of the founder. On her watch the process of remuage was instituted, which allowed Champagne to be carbonated without a sediment of yeast in the bottle. This made her wares very popular with the court.

A woman who never said 'nay' to a glass of bubbly

Catherine the Great of Russia was fond of the bubbles, and when not increasing the power of Russia as a major European player or fostering artists and philosophers, she and her court enjoyed a glass or two. Was this booze destined for her? Hard to say, but it's kind of nice to think we have a link back more than two centuries to her time.

By the way, if you want a bottle, it's expected they'll sell for €50,000--each--at auction. I think I'll make a batch of my sparkling wine and toss it in the drink for a couple of centuries. Now that would be a retirement fund!

Posted by Deep Sea Tim AT 1:36PM

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